"Man, I swear, this town never changes. People would rather sneak behind your back than ask you a direct question." -Jason DiLaurentis.
The next day, Isabel sat down at lunch, waiting for her friends. She was early, which gave her a chance to think (not like she hadn't during her last four periods). Last night, she had hooked up with Jason, and like always, he had driven her to school, yet they didn't really talk about what had happened. So, what were they?
"Why weren't you answering your phone?" Emily asked, interrupting Isabel's train of thoughts. She set down her lunch tray next to her, and Aria joined them.
"I was kind of busy," Isabel muttered.
"You're never busy on school nights," Aria frowned.
"I was busy," Isabel swore, spinning her fork thoughtfully.
"Then why was your phone turned off?" Emily pressed.
"None of your business. Why do you care?" Isabel snapped.
"You told him," Aria gasped, grinning at her. Isabel shrugged, and resisted the smile tugging at her lips, and leaned back on her chair. Suddenly, her phone beeped, and Emily looked over her shoulder. Nosy much?
'Now you're hooking up with my brother? Never thought he'd like you back, bitch. -A'
"What?" Emily and Aria gaped.
"Wow, look at you," Aria teased.
"You slept with Jason?!" Emily huffed at the same time.
"Maybe," Isabel said defensively.
"Well, I need to talk to you about Jason anyway, so..." Emily sighed, and Isabel rolled her eyes at her. "I'm serious, Isabel. Jason has pictures of you. Creepy pictures."
"And how exactly did you find this out?" Isabel frowned as Spencer walked over.
"Spencer and I found a darkroom in his woodshed. He developed pictures of you sleeping," Emily explained.
"You broke into his woodshed?" Isabel scoffed.
"Look, I had a feeling he was hiding something, and I was right!" Spencer shot back, and Isabel rolled her eyes again.
"He has pictures of you, Isabel. Sleeping or drugged," Emily urged.
"Jason wouldn't do that. I know him, Em," Isabel argued.
"You really buy his act of hanging around here, pretending to be concerned about the at-risk youth?" Spencer scoffed.
"Whoa, whoa, he really does help these kids," Isabel huffed.
"That's true," Aria nodded. "He really did help Mike."
"And he's my best friend," Isabel added.
"So he could get to you!" Spencer shot back.
"And sleep with you!" Emily agreed, and Spencer gawked at Isabel.
"Wait, what?!" Spencer sputtered. "You slept with him?!"
"Not so loud!" Isabel hissed, leaning forward. "I don't want the whole school thinking I'm a slut. And thanks, Em. I really needed that, on top of everything else."
"Isabel, he's dangerous," Emily insisted.
"Yeah, you should-" Spencer began, but Isabel cut her off.
"No, Em, he's not!" She snapped. "And I'm not gonna let you ruin another one of my relationships, Spence." And with that, she stormed off.
-
Isabel was walking to her next class when she saw Jason. He smiled at her and walked over. "Hey."
"Jason... why do you have those pictures of me?" She asked nervously, fiddling with her hands.
"Pictures?" Jason frowned.
"Look, I'm sorry, but as expected, my friends broke into your woodshed, and they found photos... of me," Isabel explained.
"Man, I swear, this town never changes," he sighed. "People would rather sneak behind your back than ask you a direct question."
"Well, I'm asking you a direct question," Isabel scoffed impatiently.
"Ali had them," Jason shrugged. "She took them of you. Probably during one of your sleepovers."
"Why would Ali take photos of me sleeping?" She asked slowly.
"Got me," he replied. "I don't know what goes on at slumber parties." At her confused look, he added, "I found a roll of film in the house, so I developed it."
"Then... where are they now?" Isabel pressed.
"I'm having them framed," Jason explained, and she relaxed. She knew he was telling the truth. "As a gift. For you." Well now she felt like crap.
"I'm sorry," she muttered, looking down.
"Isa," Jason smiled, putting a hand on her cheek, making her look him in the eye finally. "I would never take photos of you without your consent. You know that."
"I know," Isabel nodded.
"Look, if you want, I can still give them to you," he shrugged. "Meet up at the Grille after school?"
"Okay," she agreed. He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead before turning away. In the spur of the moment, Isabel spun him back around, and he stared at her confused. She then kissed him on the lips, something she never would have done if it wasn't him. He kissed back, and they stayed that way for a moment. She could just never seem to get enough of him, and it seemed the same for him.
"I'll see you soon," Jason smiled at her when she pulled away. He walked one direction, and she went the opposite. Pretty quickly, Aria joined her.
"Huh. I didn't know you liked to do that kind of stuff in public. You wouldn't even hold Mike's hand," Aria teased as they walked along.
"I don't. I hate PDA," Isabel agreed. "It's for attention whores."
"Hm, really?" Aria asked skeptically.
"Jason's... a different story," Isabel shrugged, picking up a flyer for Brown. There was a college fair going on, but she didn't kid herself. She might have been a straight-A student, but she didn't quite have the money for college. Maybe her super-rich mother who abandoned her would pay for it!
"Are you two dating?" Aria said curiously.
"I don't know what we are," Isabel admitted. "Was that just a one-off? Or are we friends with benefits? Maybe we could be dating?" She picked up a brochure for UPenn. Her dream school. But it cost almost two hundred thousand a year, and unless her mom really loved her, UPenn would be just that. A dream. "I don't know who I'm kidding. I can't get into any of these schools." She dropped her brochure back into its pile.
"Sure you can," Aria scoffed. "You're practically as smart as Spencer."
"But not as rich," Isabel sighed, looking up. Mr. Fitz was cautiously eyeing Aria, so she waved goodbye and was gone.
-
At the Grille, Jason showed her the photos.
"I didn't know Ali was so artistic," Isabel said in awe, inspecting one of the more detailed images. "I barely remember her taking photos."
"Nervous?" Jason teased. Isabel looked down and realized she was fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt. Hell yeah she was nervous. She had to ask him out practically.
"Oh, um," she replied, clasping her hands together tightly. "It's a... a bad habit." She paused. "Look, I'm really sorry that my friends broke into your woodshed. I think... I think we're all looking for answers."
"That's how I found this roll of film in the first place," he agreed.
"W-where did you find it?" Isabel frowned.
"I was doing some renovations in Ali's room. I pulled up her floorboard and found a box of her stuff," Jason explained.
"What else was in this box?" She asked curiously.
"Nothing special. Just girl stuff."
"Ali did hide stuff... but why would she hide these?" Isabel pressed, looking him dead in the eye.
"Hiding things became such second nature to her, I don't think she even knew why she was doing it half the time," he nodded. "Something becomes a habit, it's hard to stop, you know?"
"Yeah, well, you and I know that better than anyone else," she sighed. They were silent for a beat, and she looked up at him. Now or never. "What are we?" He gave her a confused look, and she added, "Look, I know we hooked up last night, and kissed a few hours ago, but we never discussed labels. I mean, I really like you, and I want to date you, but... I don't know what you want."
"You," Jason smiled, taking her hand with his. "I would love to be your boyfriend. I never told you this, but... after my girlfriend broke up with me in June, and we partied... you helped me get over her. But not in that way. You were like a ray of light in my dark life. Eventually, I actually fell in love with you. After Ali disappeared, I thought I was over you. But then I moved back here, and..."
"You were still in love with me?" Isabel finished, a smile tugging at her lips. Of course, it sounded like the perfect fairy tale, and it seemed like a fantasy, but it was real. Her eyes once again slid down to his lips. He must've seen, because suddenly, they were kissing. She leaned into the kiss, but again, it was over all too fast.
"Come on," he said when they broke apart. "I can show you her box of things if you want."
"Okay," Isabel nodded, and she gathered her things.
-
When they got back home, Jason and her got out of the car and began to walk inside.
"Actually, the box is in the woodshed," he explained, stopping her.
"Isabel!"
Isabel turned around and saw the last thing she ever wanted to see right then. Spencer, glaring at her with her arms crossed.
"Go ahead, Jason," Isabel sighed. "I gotta argue with Spencer." He nodded and left.
"You two are dating? What happened to 'we're just friends'?" Spencer scoffed.
"How'd you know that? Were you spying on us?" Isabel spat, crossing her arms as well.
"I saw you two lip-locking at the Grille," Spencer huffed. "Really, Isabel?"
"Yes, really!" Isabel snapped. "Jason and I were drunk most of that summer. Yeah, big shocker! Now, whoever killed Ali hit her so hard they dented her skull, and then buried her alive. You think Jason, who was wasted that night, could've done either of those things?"
"Well, he- he was strong! An- and angry!" Spencer sputtered defensively.
"Yeah, and you're wrong," Isabel rolled her eyes. When Jason came back, Spencer just stared at them as he handed Isabel the box.
"Anyway, meet me at Hanna's. Em got an 'A' massage," Spencer sighed as Isabel took Jason's hand.
"Okay," she shrugged coldly. Spencer stormed off, and she turned to Jason. "Sorry about that. Can you drive me to Hanna's?"
"Don't worry about it. And sure," he smiled.
-
When she got there, Jason gave her a quick goodbye peck, and she watched as he drove off.
She knocked on the door, and Spencer answered.
"I just want to-" Spencer said at the same time Isabel gulped, "Spence, I should-"
"You first," Isabel smiled.
"No, you. I insist," Spencer replied, and Isabel nervously bit her lip.
"I shouldn't have snapped at you like that," she told her. "But Jason didn't kill Ali. You know that. Deep down, you must. And I can date whoever I want."
"You're right," Spencer nodded. "And I'm sorry for cornering you like that. It's just..."
"Just what?"
"I didn't want to lose you like we lost Ali," Spencer whispered.
"You won't. I promise," Isabel smiled, and hugged her.
"I'm sorry," Spencer said once she let go.
"I accept your apology," Isabel joked.
"Let's... let's check on Emily," Spencer replied hesitantly. Isabel nodded and followed her upstairs.
"...Guy or girl?" Hanna was asking.
"I-I thought it was a girl, but... now I don't know," Emily frowned, trying to remember.
"Do you need to tke another shower?" Spencer asked.
"No," Emily sighed. "I think five is enough."
"I could use one," Spencer mumbled. "I feel gross ever since I discovered Ian's videos might have more than one cameraman."
"What?" Isabel blinked. Since when? And why didn't they tell her?
"This is so creepy," Hanna agreed, ignoring her.
"What's creepier is one of those guys has a gun, and a badge," Spencer nodded.
"And a relationship to Jenna, who hates us, and hated Ali even more," Emily shuddered.
"Back it up a mile," Isabel frowned. "What am I missing here?"
"Um," the others muttered, giving each other meaningful looks before Spencer spoke up.
"It's the videos, Isabel," she explained. "Ever since 'A' made Ian's death look like a suicide, we've been thinking 'A' and Ali's killer are the same person. But what if 'A' is a whole group of people, all playing together for the same team?"
"Or the same club," Emily said darkly. Isabel opened her mouth, about to say something, when the doorbell rang.
"That's Aria. She'll be up soon," Spencer sighed.
"Guys!" Isabel shouted, and they all stared at her. "What aren't you telling me?"
Aria barged in, and noticed everyones' expressions.
"You didn't tell her yet, did you?" She sighed, sitting down on Hanna's bed, right next to a very confused Isabel.
"Tell me what?" Isabel exclaimed, exasperated. "Who are these other cameramen?"
"Spencer found out that Ian was part of something called the NAT club," Hanna explained, nervously glancing at the others.
"What's it stand for?" Isabel frowned.
"Some Latin thing meaning 'We See All', and Ian wasn't the only member," Hanna said slowly.
"'Nos Animadverto Totus'," Isabel realized.
"It's Ian, Garrett, and..." Spencer began, but her voice faltered.
"And who?" Isabel snapped. The others exchanged dark looks before turning to face Isabel again.
"Isabel..." Spencer began apologetically.
"Who?!"
"And... Jason."